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ORATION? 



DELIVERED AT THE 



REQUEST OF THE REPUBLICANS OF BOSTON 



AT 



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ON 



THE FOURTH OF JULY, 1832 



, a a***.. 



BY ANDREW DUNLAP, 



BOSTON: 

TRINTED AT THE OFFICE OP THE AMERICAN STATESMAN, 
By True and Greene. 

1822. 






toil 



BOSTON, JULY 5, 1822. 
Sir — At a meeting of the committee of arrangement* for 
celebrating the fort} -sixth anniversary of American Indepen- 
dence, held yesteiday, it was unauimously 

Voted, "That the thanks of this committee be tendered to 
Andrew Dunlap, Esq. for his very eloquent and patriotic 
Oration, delivered this day, at Fanueil Hall, and that a copy 
be solicited for the press." 

We avail ourselves of the present opportunity to express to 
you our peisonal acknowledgements, and remain, Sir, with 
the highest consideration, 

Your obedient Servants, 

NATH'L. GREENE, 
WINSLOW LEWIS, £ Spatial Com. 
JOHN W. QUINCY, 
ANDREW DUNLAP, ESQ. 






BOSTON, JULY 5, 1822. 
Gextleme.v — The Oration, which I had the honour to de- 
liver, is at your disposal. I return my thanks to the Commit- 
tee of Arrangements for their vote and to you for your polite 
communication. 

Very Respectfully, 

Your Obedient Servant, 

ANDREW DUNLAF. 
MR. NATH'L. GREENE,) 
" WINSLOW LEWIS, \ Special Committee. 
" JOHN W. QUINCY, ^ 



Exchange 
V. t. Pab. Lib. 
JUL 12 T909 



ORATION. 



FELLOW CITIZENS, 

tt HY are we this day assembled? The ob- 
ject of this great National Celebration, is to che- 
rish a recollection of the principles and feelings, 
which fired the breasts of those Patriots, who 
forty-seven years since, first unfurled that ban- 
ner, which now waves triumphantly in every 
breeze of heaven. 

Sacred to the latest ages, be this anniversary 
of our freedom ! Let no sound, save the voice 
of joy, and the language of exultation, be heard 
in the land, on the return Gf this glorious day, 
when our fathers proclaimed, that America was 
Independent and Free ; and that the honour 
of her citizens was staked, and the blood of her 
sons pledged, to the attainment of that liberty. 



4 

which they claimed as their right, and which 
they resolved to leave, as an inheritance to their 
children. The lofty feelings of that hour, can 
never be adequately described ; and as many 
ages may roll on, as have preceded it, before 
those sentiments will be felt again. Great was 
the occasion, illustrious were the men whom it 
produced ! The authors of our Independence were 
lifted above the influence of all those considera- 
tions of interest, and fear, which blight the enter- 
prize of ordinary men, and cause their hearts to 
tremble. They renounced all former attachments. 
Their memory dwelt only upon the wrongs, and 
oppressions, which had been heaped upon their 
country. Hope, like the sun rising above the 
morning's mist, dawned from afar, with brightest 
beams upon their view, and they saw beyond the 
clouds which encompassed them, the fair prospect 
of their country's prosperity and glory. In their 
glowing visions of the future, they beheld their 
children the successful assertors of human rights, 
surpassing the inhabitants of Europe in the excel- 
lence of their civil institutions, with rapid strides, 
endeavouring to rival them in knowledge, and 
the attainment of every thing to be desired, for 
the happiness of mankind, and rising into a unit- 



5 

ed, flourishing and powerful nation ; respected 
abroad and happy at home. 

With these emotions bursting from their hearts, 
they invoked the aid of Heaven ; they appealed 
with confidence to the valour, and patriotism, of 
their fellow-citizens, and uniting their fate, with 
the fate of their country, they struck the blow 
which severed the British Empire, and made a 
breach between the mother country and her col- 
onies, deeper and wider than the ocean which 
rolled between them. 

History presents no parallel to the American 
revolution. The enemies of the Tarquins, the des- 
troyers of the power of Kings in Kome, were rous- 
ed by the distress and despair of the husband of 
JLucretia, they caught the spirit of revenge, with 
which his bosom burned, and were impelled to 
the overthrow of despotism, as well by " private 
griefs" as love of country. When Caesar fell ; 
when the Roman world was delivered from his 
usurpation ; and ancient liberty seemed about to 
be restored 5 the minds of men at first were fill- 
ed with admiration of the deed. But when they 
saw the greatest hero of the age stretched life- 
less in the Forum, covered with unfading lau- 
rels, his power of oppressing the Republic ter- 



miniated, and his earthly race of glory finished, 
his dangerous ambition was soon forgotten. They 
remembered him as an orator second only to their 
Cicero, as the invader of Britain, the conqueror 
of Gaul, and the victorious leader of their in- 
vincible legions. Among those whose daggers 
were stained with his blood, they found many 
who owed the preservation of their lives and rank 
to his generosity, and but few whose motives were 
not tinged with personal jealousy of his great- 
ness. In a moment, the splendor of the action was 
obscured by the clouds of popular grief and rage ; 
and with one sentiment the citizens of Rome who 
had often followed his chariot to swell the pomp 
of his triumphs, and the veterans who had fought 
by his side and shared the danger and the glory 
of his exploits, rushed to arms to avenge his 
death. 

In the conflict, which ensued, the last drop of 
Republican blood was spilt, the last vestige of Ro- 
man liberty destroyed, and the nation sunk into a 
despotism, which for nearly fifteen centuries spread 
like the shades of the night over the civilized 
world, and almost extinguished the virtue and in- 
telligence of mankind. From the influence of this 
despotism, the people of Europe with all their as- 



sumed and boasted intellectual superiority, have 
never been able entirely to emerge ; for they yet 
kneel at the foot of the Throne ; they gaze with 
delight on the star that glitters on a Noble's 
breast ; they yield the tribute of respect to their 
enervated, corrupt, and mouldering Aristocracies ; 
and they still bow their necks to the yoke of 
Priesthood. Hereafter this will be recorded as 
the greatest honour of the United States ; their 
Citizens were the first effectually to burst the 
chains forged for men, in the civil wars of Rome 
caused by the death of Caesar, and rivetted upon 
them by the elevation of his family to the purple, 
and the unlimited command of the Roman Em- 
pire. ; and they also were the first deliberately to 
renounce, totally, and forever, those absurd, and 
tyrannical maxims of politics, which are the stay 
of the Priesthood, the props of the Nobility, and 
the foundations of the Throne. 

Our Revolution was not the offspring of private 
resentment, the contention of parties, or the dis- 
organizing spirit of ambitious leaders ; for the 
splendor of its events are equalled only by the 
purity of the feelings, which produced them. In- 
dignation was felt, but it was the just indignation 
of a whole people, excited by constant persecu- 



tion, and continued and deliberate violations of 
their dearest rights, as contained in their Charters, 
the gifts of their Kings, and secured by a better 
title, the eternal maxims of justice and the funda- 
mental principles of the British Constitution. The 
cry that resistance must be made, at every hazard, 
to the encroachments of the Crown, which first is- 
sued from this Hall, found its way to every heart, 
and was eagerly responded by every voice in the 
community. The contest was not for power, but 
for principle. It was a struggle in support of the 
rights of man. It resulted in their complete es- 
tablishment, and the perfect triumph of the most 
glorious cause, in which his genius and courage 
were ever called forth. 

Who were those lovers of their country, who 
dared hazard the vengeance, and face the pow- 
er of the British Monarch, who were the first 
to ascend to original principles of government, 
and to maintain that the people's will is the on- 
ly pure fountain of political power ? They were 
chiefly the descendants of the Puritans, who for 
the sake of conscience and freedom, parted with 
the friends of their youth, relinquished a country 
that they loved as the land which gave them birth, 
braved every toil, and danger with unexampled 



constancy and courage, and sought liberty in a wil- 
derness covered with the snows of a northern win- 
ter. This is the lineage of the men who created 
the first impulse of opposition to British tyranny. 
The sons of such sires, could not be degenerate, 
for that rock which first received their weary feet, 
will sooner crumble to dust, than the spirit of the 
Pilgrims be extinguished in the breasts of their 
children ! 

The first settlers of New-England were as 
much distinguished for their wisdom, as their 
intrepid boldness. They felt that to them, 
neither a common fate, nor a common character 
had been allotted. Though born in the days when 
Prerogative knew no limit, and the power of Priu- 
ces no controul, they were ardent and zealous 
Republicans, and it was the desire of their hearts, 
that their feelings and manners should be trans- 
mitted in their simplicity and vigour, as the best 
legacy which they could leave to their posterity. 
Consequently all their laws were marked by 
an inflexible Republican character. They fled 
from religious persecution, and they determined 
that their children should never become the slaves 
of any Hierarchy. The clergy therefore, were 
rendered dependent for their support and influence, 



10 

wholly on their merit and their services ; aud 
they have ever remained, not as in other countries, 
a separate order of men, sometimes menacing the 
government, and at all times subjugating the peo- 
ple, but as the most useful of our citizens, blend- 
ing their feelings and interests with those of the 
rest of the community, partaking their prosperity, 
sharing their adversity, and enjoying their unal- 
loyed respect. The salutary effects of this system 
were amply realized, " in those days which tried 
men's souls." Not one of the Puritan Clergymen 
deserted his friends or his country. From their 
pulpits, they animated the courage of their breth- 
ren, on the field of battle they were found by their 
side, aud they prayed unceasingly to the God who 
had protected their fathers, to crown with success 
the efforts of a people fighting in defence of their 
freedom. 

The Puritans were enemies to every species of 
Aristocracy, and by their laws of inheritance they 
prevented the dangerous accumulation of wealth, 
and its accompanying influence in a few hands. 
They also established schools and colleges for the 
diffusion of knowledge, the best safeguard of pub- 
lic liberty and happiness, and where the sons of 
the Middling interests of society might measure 



11 

their strength, with the sons of the Aristocratic 
classes, and by superior talents and industry, out- 
strip them in the race for distinction. 

Fellow Citizens, it was the soul of your an- 
cestry which filled this Hall, when midst bursts 
of enthusiastic feeling, its walls resounded with the 
eloquence of Quincy, Otis, Hancock, and Adams, 
exciting their countrymen to the most strenuous 
efforts for the preservation of their rights. TLe 
Macedonian King learnt that the voice of the 
Prince of Orators could kindle in Greece, the flame 
of patriotism, and raise a powerful opposition to 
his ambitious designs. And in James Otis, George 
the third found the Demosthenes of America. 
That eye which once beam* d confidence to the 
friends, and flashed terror to the enemies of the 
cause of freedom, is now extinguished in the dark- 
ness of the tomb ; and that tongue, which poured 
forth like the loudest thunder of the tempest, 
those denunciations which shook the Tyrant's 
Throne, is now cold as the monumental stone 
which marks the spot, where the remains of the 
orator of New-England repose. But the works 
of great men live after them. Half a century has 
elapsed since those Patriots, were seen together in 
this sacred enclosure. They have ascended to 



IS 

Heaven to receive the reward of their labours, for 
their country and mankind ; but their principles, 
their example, and their memory will never per- 
ish, and we are assembled, in the enjoyment of 
that Independence, which they acquired for us, 
here in the very scene of their greatest glory, to 
cherish their principles, venerate their example, 
and honour their memory. 

We stand on holy ground ; and every spot 
around us is associated with the most glorious 
recollections. On our rear are the Plains of 
Lexington, where the blood of our countrymen 
was first shed in battle, and the first sound of 
the trumpet was heard, announcing that the 
work of destruction had commenced, and the 
war was begun. On the right we behold those 
rude fortifications which suddenly rose before 
the eyes of the astonished enemy, relieved Bos- 
ton from a siege, and removed forever from the 
sight of the people of Massachusetts, that ar- 
my which was sent to dragoon them into obe- 
dience to the Royal Edicts. On the left, that 
Hill rises upon our view, where British Troops 
learnt the dear lesson, that English courage had 
not lost in this western continent either its fierce- 
ness or its firmness ; where *' the soldier, schol- 



13 

ar ?? Warren fell, where Prescott gained a reputa- 
tion, lasting as the battle ground on which it 
was acquired, and where Stark, like Catnillus 
from his plough, displayed a firmness which 
Rome in her best days would have honoured. 
The heights of Charlestown will be as memo- 
rable in our annals as the pass of Themopylse in 
Grecian History. Let those monuments of Glory 
always remind us, that as no sacrifices and dan- 
gers were thought too great to be encountered, 
for the attainment of freedom, none should be 
considered too great for its preservation ! Let 
us be admonished by the fate of other Republics, 
and avoid the errors which have occasioned their 
fall from greatness ! The soul of the traveller 
who visits the place where the Despot of Asia 
with his host of slaves was checked by the band 
of Spartan Patriots, is elevated by the thought that 
he treads upon the ground where Grecian liberty 
was defended, perhaps preserved, by Grecian val- 
our 5 but his transport is subdued by the recollec- 
tion that after Greece had lost her liberties, even 
here Alaric was permitted to pass without resis- 
tance at the head of his Gothic barbarians, and 
desolate a country once renowned for her Orators, 
her Statesmen, and her Heroes. 



£4 

Let us listen to the warning voice of history, 
and bear in mind, that liberty and glory, can be 
preserved only by vigilance, and exertion. We 
may then confidently indulge the hope, that the 
day will never arrive, when the Declaration of In- 
dependence, shall raise a blush on the countenance 
of an American, and the scenes of the battles and 
victories of the Revolution, reproach him with de- 
generacy, from the valour and the principles of his 
forefathers. 

Heaven raised up a host of Statesmen and 
Warriors for the accomplishment of our emancipa- 
tion. A Jefferson stood forth to proclaim our 
wrongs, in that immortal Declaration, which will 
be read with admiration, when the borders of the 
Pacific shall rival in population, settlements and 
cities, the shores of the Atlantic, and the United 
States shall be filled from the mountains, to both 
Oceans, with countless millions of freemen, unit- 
ed by the ties of interest, and affection, and 
bound together by the chain of one language. 
The Philosopher of Monticello enjoys with his 
distinguished associate, the Philosopher of Quin- 
cy, a happiness which has rarely fallen to the lot 
of the great political benefactors of the human 
race. Their lives have usually, been embittered 



15 

by injustice, and persecution, and they have bee& 
compelled to look to posterity to pronounce " the 
verdict of their fame ; ,J but these Patriots have out- 
lived the prejudices, which party animosities have 
excited against them ; in their own time, the storra 
has passed by, and the last hours of their course 
are unclouded and serene. To their honour, to 
the honour of their country be it said, that all their 
candid fellow Citizens now unite in the sentiment 
which posterity will approve, that the earth nev- 
er yet produced more ardent and sincere luvers of 
their country, than the two great political rivals, 
and leaders of opposing parties in the United 
States, the Sage of Massachusetts, and the Sage 
of Virginia. 

The brightest star in the constellation of Ame- 
rican Statesmen, is Franklin, the man who sprung 
from the middling interest of the Town of Boston, 
who by his scientific researches and discoveries, 
exalted the character of the new world in the eyes 
of the old, who gained the aid even of Kings to 
the cause of a Republic, and secured that assist- 
ance, which consummated the arduous struggle of 
the Revolution in a glorious acknowledgment of 
our National Independence. It was said in France 
after the return of Dv Franklin aud the arrival of 



16 

Mr. Jefferson as the ministerof the United States, 
tl we thought that America could have produced but 
one Franklin, but when her Jefferson came amongst 
us, we found she had a Franklin for every occa- 
sion." 

By the genius of the American pencil, " the first 
in War, the first in peace, the first in the hearts of 
his countrymen," the great, the illustrious Wash- 
ington, now stands before you. That brilliant 
painting, in time will lose its hues ; that heroic 
countenance, and majestic form, will fade from the 
canvass ; but his achievements will never lose their 
splendor, and the recollection of the deeds of the 
man, who was as distinguished for the lustre of 
his private virtues, as the brightness of his milita- 
ry glories, will never fade from the minds of Ids 
countrymen. As long as this celebration shall be 
maintained, a leading sentiment of the day will be, 
the memory of the Father of his Country ; and as 
long as our Republic shall exist, the remembrance 
of his services will be engraven on the grateful 
heart of every American. 

When the Declaration of Independence was 
made ; the mountains of Switzerland, sheltered the 
only truly free people in Europe. Since that peri 
od, BYance has had her Revolution, the history of 



17 

which is marked by excesses, but great and bene- 
ficial consequences, have been the result of her 
political changes. The French Revolution brought 
forth all the talent of a great nation possessing an 
extensive and fine country 5 it combiued and dis- 
played more military genius, than ever before was 
exhibited in any period of history ; it created the 
Chief who in a series of most astonishing exploits, 
from the battle at the bridge of Lodi, to the fatal 
and glorious conflict on the field of Waterloo, es- 
tablished his indisputable claim to the rank of the 
greatest military commander, whom the world had 
seen. At the foot of the Pyramids he exclaimed, 
that his army and their leader at the end of forty 
centuries, would be the subject of admiration, and 
probably forty centuries will elapse, ere a rival in 
fame will appear to the warrior who trampled down 
all prescriptive claims to greatness, who owed his 
elevation to his genius alone, and whose talents 
were as formidable to the Monarchs of Europe, as 
the strength of the strong man of antiquity to the 
Philistine Princes. France has also realized grea- 
ter advantages ; she is relieved from the bondage 
of feudal servitude, her soil is the property of 
those who cultivate it, and who owe no subjection 
or acknowledgment for the possession to any su- 



18 

perior. She enjoys in some measure a representa- 
tive government, and the voice of her people is 
now heard with a less iuterval than a period of 
nearly two centuries ; and she has the trial by 
jury, the best security of private rights. But the 
most important consequence which has flowed 
from the French Revolution has not been confined 
to the limits of that country ; it has created a tide 
of public sentiment in favour of free institutions, 
which will ultimately sweep away all the ancient 
political abuses, and from the Mediteranean Sea 
to the Arctic Ocean ameliorate the condition of the 
people. 

South America is free ; and this day we joyfully 
hail the acknowledged Independence of our Sister 
llepublics. Even Spain has awakened from the 
long slumber of despotism, and has established on 
the ruins of the Inquisition, a liberal constitution 
of government. In the political regeneration of 
that country, we should feel a deep and solemn 
interest, for it is always to be recollected, that it 
was the patronage of Spain, to the enterprize of 
Columbus, which made known to our fathers, that 
there was a country beyond the Ocean, where the 
oppressed might find a refuge, and the standard of 
Liberty be raised. In every part of Europe the 



19 

people are acquiring a share of political power, 
and an influence in the affairs of government. 
These are the glorious fruits of the American Rev- 
olution, and to its authors, from the old world, as 
well as the new, the incense of gratitude will ever 
ascend. 

During all the changes, which have occurred in 
the world, the advancement of our country, iu the 
arts, and the success of her arms is a proud 
subject of contemplation. For her progress in the 
sciences we appeal to our Constitutions as the ev- 
idence of our attainments, in the most important of 
all the sciences, that of Government. Twenty- 
four Republics have been formed under the aus- 
pices of our National institutions, and to this 
hour, no single instance has occurred of a serious 
interruption to the administration of justice, either 
under the State, or National governments. This 
fact alone is a sufficient proof, that the internal 
political arrangements are salutary and wise. 
The ability of our government to conduct a war 
with glory, was evinced in the late brilliant con- 
contest with Great Britain, when the invaders of 
our country, flushed with conquest and fresh from 
the overthrow of the champion of the age, were 
vanquished by the Soldiers of a Republic, and 



so 

beaten back by its patriotic Militia ; and when the 
gallantry of our Seamen, on the Lakes, and on the 
Ocean, won the laurels of the mariners who had 
fought under Nelson, who were the conquerors at 
the Nile, and the victors at Trafalgar. 

Could the voice of our fathers, be heard from 
the tomb, they would declare that their posterity, 
with a single exception, had maintained correct po- 
litical principles, and that they well deserved their 
prosperity and glory. But with their praises would 
be mingled the accents of complaint, that the cry- 
ing sin, the heavy curse of slavery, should exist 
among a people adoring their liberty, and appeal- 
ing to the Declaration of Independence as the 
charter of freedom and the record of the rights of 
man. New England has always felt, she al- 
ways will feel, and she has a right to speak up- 
on this subject ; for when she was a band of Colo- 
nies and slavery was tolerated, here it assumed 
its mildest form. The unfortunate being who 
was reduced to servitude, was protected by pub- 
lic sentiment and shielded by the laws from the 
slightest oppression. In Massachusetts the sen- 
timent of the Declaration of Independence, all 
men arc born free and equal, engrafted upon her 
Bill of Rights, with a breath, and in a moment en- 



franchisee! the slave, and restored that liberty 
which is the unalienable right of every being who 
bears the impress of Heaven, the form and the 
aspect of a man. Until that stain which rests upon 
our character shall be removed, we may cele- 
brate our Independence, till the earth and the 
heavens are filled with our rejoicing. But the sound 
which is echoed from the tombs of our ancestors, 
will ever be accompanied with a sigh, till the day 
shall arrive when every heart shall leap with the 
consciousness of freedom, when every voice shall 
sing the joys of liberty, and no spot of our Repub- 
lic shall be found, on which a slave can be reared, 
and no air beneath our sky, " but is too pure for 
a slave to breathe in." 

Fellow Citizens. We should rejoice at the 
elevated rank, which our Republic has attained, 
among the Nations of the earth, and the public 
and private blessings showered down upon our 
citizens. These are glorious days ! The time is 
coming, let us hail with rapture its approach, 
when the only enquiries which the people will 
make respecting any candidate for public confi- 
dence, and his country's honours, will be those 
proposed by our Jefferson, " Is he honest, is he 
capable, is he faithful to the Constitution?" Above 



22 

all things let us rejoice at the display of that spir- 
it, emanating from the Capital, and spreading ra- 
pidly over the State, which is overwhelming the 
Aristocracy of the Commonwealth, and uniting a- 
gainst them, all candid and independent men in 
one great American party. 



23 

THE ORDER OF EXERCISES, WAS 

MUSIC. 
PRAYER BY REV. T. BALDWIN, D. D, 

ODE, composed by a Gentleman of this City. 



HY did the nations rage? 
Why with us battle wage ? 

'Twas a vain thing! 
Why climb'd our hills their brave ? 
Sought they a soldier's grave 1 
Then what they sought we gave : — 
God was our King. 

When, from our guardian tide, 
Queen of the Isles ! thy pride 

Homage would wring ; 
HE who heaven's arrows tips 
Speaks in our smoking ships : 
" No !" — say their iron lips, 

" God here is King." 
Peace now, o'er field and flood, 
Sails, and no moTe in blood 

Dips her white wing : — 
Nor on the Moorish plain, 
Nor on the mighty main^ 
Clanks there a brother's chain : — 

God is our King. 
Pure as the patriot's wreath, 
Free as the air we breathe, 

This day we bring, 
From the green earth and sea, 
Where dwelleth Liberty, 
Incense of praise to Thee, 

Great God, our King. 



84 

READING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE- 
BY COL. GERRY FAIRBANKS, 

ORATION. 

The following ODE composed for the occasion, by 
Mr. Nathaniel H. Wright 

jlKE the bow in Eastern sky, 
When the storm has hurtled by, 
Glows resplendent from on high, 

Freeoom's Jubilee. 
Raise aloud the festal strain, 
Pledge the memory, yet again, 
Of the heroes who were slain, 

Fighting valiantly. 

2. When the storm of battle pour'd, 
Then proud Albion's tyrant horde 
Met the dauntless freeman's sword, 

Flashing victory. 
Sons of heroes who have bled, 
O ! revere the patriot dead, 
Whose best blood, so nobly shed, 

Gave you liberty. 

S. Be your altars o'er Iheir tomb, 
Thftrc let loveliest flowerets bloom, 
Breathing holy, sweet perfume, 

To THEIR MEMORY. 

Piy the glories of the brave : 

By the blood which ting'd the wave ; 

fly the patriot's hallow'd grave ; 

Swear you'll still de free, 

BENEDICTION, BY KEV. MR. DEAN. 















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